Does every iteration on the Langtons site just get worse?

[GraemeG]

I visited for the first time in months.
Another makeover.
Now you can't even download a pdf of an auction's lots.
Apparently if you don't want to search for something specific you have to browse the listing at the rate of 12 wines per screen (with scrolling!)
There seems to be no other alternative.
What a shambles.
Graeme

[Polymer]

Basically it seems like they go and update the look a bit..but left out a bunch of the little things..which get put back in later...it just seems really silly how they're doing it because a lot of it should be a bit more modular which would make it far easier to deal w/ this type of change...

But whatever...pretty bad now...hopefully it'll get back to fairly usable soon..

[ticklenow1]

Yep!

[Jimmya]

Their "test" environment and the "live" environment seems to be the same thing, they are morons, lots of lots going cheap if they are multiples too, as viewing the lots is so poor. "Watch all" fucntion doesnt work unless u click into a specific lot.

[Rossco]

I visited for the first time in months.
Another makeover.
Now you can't even download a pdf of an auction's lots.
Apparently if you don't want to search for something specific you have to browse the listing at the rate of 12 wines per screen (with scrolling!)
There seems to be no other alternative.
What a shambles.
Graeme

I would just be happy if they could actually deliver the goods I bought in under 20 days and then when they actually (apparently) left the warehouse were told they were broken in transit. I have gone elsewhere

[Ian S]

Sounds like an ill-thought out attempt at 'mobile friendly'

[felixp21]

hahahaha, I just had a look for curiosity's sake.
hahahahaha
wow, they must pay their IT support big bucks.

[JamieBahrain]

They opened up in HKG but not sure what happened ?

Langton East Asia .

There’s give away Aussie Wien up here not sure what they’re planning?

[GraemeG]

Maybe I'm not a typical customer, but the thing with an auction is that buyers often like to scan the catalogue to see if there's anything they're interested in. Then they bid on it. You can scan an 800-lot wine catalogue fairly quickly, if it's in a pdf, or a proper line-by-line listing.
But some crappy, white-screen, "clean modern look" website with 12 wines visible before a click-reload is just rubbish.
The sole improvement I see on the last version (and maybe it was there too but I didn't notice it) is the ability to sort by lot number ascending, which effectively filters out all the over-priced stuff in the "Langton's store", since they don't have lot numbers and get dumped to the end. That 's another thing that irritated me - if I select an auction, why is all this non-auction stuff showing? Even eBay lets you filter to auction-only.
Really, I'd buy more if I could find it easily.
I guess it's just another badly designed web-site, that looks pretty but is functionally terrible. A metaphor for the modern world, in many ways!
Graeme

[Polymer]

I don't mind the look of it as long as you can add more listings per page (12 is LOL), download the auction pdf, etc, etc...

Hopefully they implement that...

I think earlier revisions of their site had the same issue...which is why I'm expecting these bits will be added...

But whomever is leading this effort doesn't know what they're doing..I'm sure it is the same team that had done the work before because the process seems to be the same bad one..

[dave vino]

Just when I was starting to like/get used to the old one.

It is strange, if you click on a listing that has multiple bottles/lots available it reverts back to the old look and feel. So it's like they have stuck a wrapper on the site.

It is actually quicker to use the grid view with a max of 12/page.

At least the filtering is better.

[asajoseph]

Just found this thread, as I was looking to post another question about Langtons (I'll get to that), but...

I actually find the new website a huge improvement on the old one. I used to find that, on my PC browsers (Chrome or IE), the filtering functionality barely worked & wasn't particularly responsive. Also, combining search criteria rarely seemed to work. 12 wines / page isn't ideal, but I find the responsiveness of the new site much better. Also, much easier to use on my mobile (which I'm on about 50% of the time I use it).

That said, I've never really used pdfs / catalogues to bid on anything. I'm the ebay generation, I suppose, traditional auctions not something I've ever been involved with.

Now, if they could just sort delivery out...

Onto my actual question: where on earth does all this stock come from? The volumes passing through this site are enormous. I imagine a lot of it is surplus Dan's stock, but it can't all be that. Then again, I can't quite believe the fine wine market in Australia is big enough to generate this kind of volume - I'm used to using wine auction sites in the UK, and they don't seem to come close to what Langtons puts through (based on gut feel, not hard data, so correct me if I'm wrong!).

[Duncan Disorderly]

Good question. I’ve often wondered the same thing. Not only do they seem to have masses of stock, they also appear to be trying to sell the same stock for months on end with no variation on the reserves.

Woolworths have a substantial national warehousing network, however holding large amounts of slow moving stock is the antithesis of modern supply chain practices.

It’s possible that some of the items reside in private collections off site, which could allow for slow moving stock and account for the longer delivery times, but that’s only a guess.

[Mike Hawkins]

I probably sell 300 bottles a year through them and I know others that sell way more. I think some wineries offload excess stocks.. and then there’s deceased estates.

I agree the comment re reserves and slow moving stock. While I don’t check often, some of the reserves are crazy... way above retail.

[phillisc]

Wines with reserves way above retail that do actually sell...well that might be good for the vendor.
However, think that would be quite rare and only for trophy wines.

I must be a simple guy, can't keep up with all the Langtons machinations, looks different every time I visit, which admittedly is not very often.
Thankfully there are a couple of SA players who seem to have things much more organised and 1 or 2 in Melbourne same.

Agree, there are some bottles which have been at Langtons for months, bit like houses with over eager agents and equally unrealistic reserves.

Cheers craig

[asajoseph]

I really only use Langtons to buy more recent vintage bottles (3-4 years out of vintage, max), and only ever below the lowest price I can find retail. I get some great prices sometimes - d'Arenberg Dead Arm is regularly gettable at prices cheaper than anywhere else, and I picked up some Bin 138 last week for less than $30/bottle.

But I'd never consider buying anything older than this - the provenance just scares me, particularly in this country.

[Duncan Disorderly]

I’ve been regularly buying wine between 5-10 years old from them for almost a decade and I’ve only had 4 or 5 bottles that seemed heat affected. A few years ago I bought three 20 year old WA Pinot’s. They cost roughly $9 each and were all magnificent.

There have been a few punts that haven’t played out like I thought, usually the wine is ok but maybe hasn’t aged as well as forecast. However, there’s been plenty more that have exceeded expectations. Some older whites like Sauvignon Blanc have been particularly good value.

[Hacker]

Can anyone explain to me, when the same wine turns up for auction at Langtons over a particular year, that it sells for the exact same price every time across that year. I was looking at 2012 Mt Edelstone (but there are many, many other examples) which sold on six separate occasions this year, each one for $145. How can that be?

[Cactus]

This is my theory as a Langtons user. Often I will be the bidder and not meet the reserve or put a wine on the watchlist. Post auction I will get 24 hours tp accept an offer on a eine at Reserve. So for your Mt Edelstone example I imagine the reserve was $145 and were all from the same vendor.

[phillisc]

Yep, would seem that way, and like the vendor, all go to the same buyer
Cheers Craig

[GraemeG]

They're obviously happy to have stuff sitting around forever. Clearance rates must be dire. Be interesting to see what happens to Langtons (for better or worse) when Woolies divest themselves of the whole alcohol group.
Assuming they still go through with it.
They way the business is run at the moment I can't imagine it pays its way except as a possible channel to flog off a whole lot of wine from DM/BWS which they'd rather not mark down in store.

[Cactus]

Im no expert but isnt a lot of the stock held by the winery? Id imagine they leak a little out through Langtons but defend price levels.

[felixp21]

I just had a look at the stuff on the Langton's site.
The prices asked are a joke. If you buy at auction, hang on for three months, and watch the prices tumble. With the ass falling out of the Asian market, there is going to be a serious glut of Aussie wine.

[Polymer]

I just had a look at the stuff on the Langton's site.
The prices asked are a joke. If you buy at auction, hang on for three months, and watch the prices tumble. With the ass falling out of the Asian market, there is going to be a serious glut of Aussie wine.

I hope that's true in general...Really tired of the Asian market driving prices to stupid levels...

Not sure what you mean by the prices on Langtons are a joke though..

Some prices are ridiculous..some are probably competitive (except for the fact that they're auction). The BUY prices from Langtons are ridiculous but probably no more so than retail stores.

If you watch it close enough there are some pretty decent deals to be had simply because of currency fluctuation....

[asajoseph]

Second that Polymer - as I said earlier up in the thread, there are good deals to be had on the auction site. I've rarely felt that I've paid too much, even when whacking the commission on top (which always manages to surprise me!).

Don't know about the retail pricing - they have a pretty good range, in the main, though I haven't used them much for retail in the past (with a few notable exceptions).

[asajoseph]

Interesting to see Langtons have listed ‘Halliday’s personal DRC cellar’... Wonder who’ll be bidding on that!

[Hacker]

Interesting to see Langtons have listed ‘Halliday’s personal DRC cellar’... Wonder who’ll be bidding on that!

Campbell did a video on JH and his thoughts on selling his DRC. [url]https://youtu.be/EcVUm6gJbHs[/url]
I wonder though if the storage of these special wines was passive.

[phillisc]

I won't, but if he bothered to list some of his Coonawarra stock...63 Peppermint Pattie, 55 Michael, could sell the farm for those
What a cosy arrangement with Langtons and a 4 page Ad in the Weekend Oz spruiking the sale...bet he won't even be charged commission.
Cheers Craig

[asajoseph]

Interesting to see Langtons have listed ‘Halliday’s personal DRC cellar’... Wonder who’ll be bidding on that!

Campbell did a video on JH and his thoughts on selling his DRC. [url]https://youtu.be/EcVUm6gJbHs[/url]
I wonder though if the storage of these special wines was passive.

Langtons did a series of cellaring podcasts in conjunction with Halliday a year or so ago. The first episode is all about James' personal cellar, and the conditions he describes are... interesting!

[Diddy]

Credit where it's due - Langton's have really got their act together in relation to logistics and delivery based on my recent experiences.